vs DETROIT PISTONS (29-50) @ CHICAGO BULLS (46-32) Game 79, Home Game 40 Friday, April 11, 2014 – 7:00 PM CT United Center WGN America / ESPN 1000 AM / WRTO-AM BULLS/PISTONS STREAKS BULLS CURRENT STREAK ....... 1 Win BULLS HOME STREAK ............. 1 Loss BULLS ROAD STREAK ............. 2 Wins BULLS VS. PISTONS THIS SEASON Nov. 27 @ Detroit – Bulls 99, Pistons 79 Dec. 7 @ Chicago – Pistons 92, Bulls 75 Mar. 5 @ Detroit – Bulls 105, Pistons 94 Apr. 11 @ Chicago – Game Notes Chicago Bulls (46-32) Home 25-14 Road 21-18 Bulls Season Averages: PPG: 93.5 (Opp: 91.6) RPG: 44.32 (Opp: 41.26) APG: 22.6 (Opp: 19.6) SPG: 7.30 (Opp: 7.60) BPG: 5.24 (Opp: 6.03) TO: 15.05 (Opp: 14.45) FG%: .432 (Opp: .429) FT%: .778 (Opp: .755) 3p%: .350 (Opp: .352) Probable Bulls starters Kirk Hinrich - PG - Jimmy Butler - SG - Mike Dunleavy - SF - Carlos Boozer - PF - Joakim Noah - C - Bulls Stats Leaders Points: Rose 15.9, Augustin 14.8 Rebounds: Noah 11.2, Boozer 8.3 Assists: Noah 5.2, Augustine 5.0 Steals: Butler 1.89, Noah 1.22 Blocks: Noah 1.50, Gibson 1.38 FG%: Gibson .483, Noah .481 FT%: Augustin .891, Rose .844 3FG%: Augustin .420, Dunleavy .374 Injury report Derrick Rose (right knee) is out For a full report and the latest on Bulls' injuries, check out the AthletiCo Injury Report. Detroit Pistons (29-50) Home 17-23 Road 12-27 Probable Pistons starters Brandon Jennings - PG Rodney Stuckey - SG Kyle Singler - SF Greg Monroe - PF Andre Drummond - C Injury report Josh Smith (left patella tendinitis) is a game-time decision... Will Bynum (sore left foot), Chauncey Billups (left knee surgery) and Josh Harrellson (knee) are out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boy, looking at this matchup, I can't see any case that can be made for the Pistons. Which, given how the Bulls so often play up or down to their competition, is the case to be made for the Pistons.
That might have been the best game of the season. The way the Bulls kept fighting and then just manhandled the Pistons . . . so fucking gangster. Taj Gibson is a big angry man.
Taj Gibson usually sits next to Derrick Rose on the Bulls bench. The fourth quarter was about to begin Friday, and though the Bulls had worked back from an 18-point halftime deficit to the Detroit Pistons, they still trailed by 10 and were being hammered on the backboards with Andre Drummond on the way to a game of 26 points and 26 rebounds. “In four minutes this can all change,” Rose was saying to Gibson, who’d had just six points and no rebounds through three quarters. “Watch,” counseled Rose. “Give it four, six minutes.” It was something of an epiphany for Gibson, but also a realization of what the Bulls have been and perhaps what they can become. Noah became the ninth player in NBA history with at least 400 assists and 100 blocks, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Sam Lacey, Alex English, Alvan Adams, Dwyane Wade, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. “It reminded me how we used to play when we had Derrick in the Eastern Conference finals (in 2011),” said Gibson. “No matter how much we got down, we knew we had a chance to win; guys kept believing and I felt that in the fourth quarter. Guys didn’t shy away. We kept pushing forward and we were right in the thick of things.” And beyond as the Bulls, led by Gibson and D.J. Augustin—whom coach Tom Thibodeau called the team’s “most efficient scorers”—totaling a combined 23 fourth quarter points, rumbled by the misfiring Pistons for a 106-98 victory. “We remember no one was on our bandwagon at the beginning of the year and how that felt,” said Gibson, who finished with 17 points while Augustin had 24 and is averaging 20.8 points the last five games in fewer than 30 minutes per game. “We just believe in ourselves.” There may be a lot more
Bulls overcome 18-point deficit to Pistons, extend win streak to 7 They lost their star and they lost one of their best supporting players. The Chicago Bulls never lost their way, though. Now, they have home-court advantage for at least one playoff series and the lead in the race for the third seed in the Eastern Conference. D.J. Augustin scored 24 points, Taj Gibson added 17, and the Bulls rallied from 18 down to beat the Detroit Pistons 106-98 for their seventh straight win on Friday night. Read more http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400490054